The Alpha's Reluctant Mate by Morganna Williams

there was nothing human about them. To say it was disconcerting to have a wolf’s eyes in my face was an understatement.
    My face even seemed a little elongated, giving me a feral and hungry look. The realization that all I wanted this morning was a hunk of raw meat only added to the ick factor.
    The shower was my refuge from the burning intensity beneath my skin and the strange woman looking back at me from the mirror. I lifted my face to the spray, enjoying the feel of the cool water beating against my face.
    After my shower, I at least felt a little more human. I avoided the mirror because I wasn’t ready to see the wolf girl again.
    Tera was already in the kitchen when I entered; she took one look at my face, pulled a large steak from the refrigerator, and plopped it on a plate in front of me.
    â€œI don’t know if I can…” I started, not wanting to admit how badly I wanted the raw bloody meat.
    â€œYou can, it will help,” she said simply.
    Deciding to push all the pretenses aside, I tore into the meat. “Where’s Epenie?” I asked around a bite.
    â€œShe’s been moved to the main house,” Tera said, watching me to gauge my reaction to the news.
    â€œWhy? I need her,” I cried in dismay, feeling alone in foreign territory.
    â€œFor her own safety and to preserve your friendship; trust me when I say, you don’t want anyone around you who doesn’t understand exactly what is happening to you for the next few days. Knowing and being prepared for the reality of a newly changed wolf are two very different things.”
    â€œYou’re afraid I’ll eat her? I might eat people?” The squeak in my voice demonstrated exactly how disturbed I was by the prospect.
    â€œYou won’t eat her or anyone else, but you might certainly scare them into thinking you will. Your control is going to be more and more tenuous in the next few days and some of your features will shift back and forth as your body prepares for the full moon.”
    I sighed and pushed the empty plate away from me. Tera had been right; the raw steak seemed to have relaxed some of the tension coursing through me, but now I felt sick and nervous about what was to come.
    â€œWhat exactly is going to happen to me?”
    Tera shrugged. “Everyone is different.”
    I suddenly felt too restless to stay cooped up inside and rose to leave the cabin, but something else occurred to me. “Where’s Dizzy?”
    She smiled sympathetically. “With Epenie at the main house.”
    â€œI can’t even have my dog?”
    â€œYou’ll get her back once you’ve completed the first change. Her you might eat.”
    Once again I’d been given almost more information than I could deal with; shaking my head, I ran from the house. Suddenly I needed the wide-open spaces the large compound grounds offered me.
    I’d run almost a mile before I realized I hadn’t even bothered to put on shoes. It was like I’d turned into some sort of wild creature. I caught a scent in the air and turned my nose up to catch more of it.
    Instinct seemed to take over as my nose twitched, separating the different smells on the wind to pick out the one I wanted.
    When I found it, a shudder of pleasure coursed through my body, I didn’t know exactly what I smelled, but I knew with certainty that it was prey.
    Crouching, I crept almost soundlessly through the brush, weaving in and out among the large trees until I came to a clearing.
    A doe stood at the base of the creek delicately lapping at the water, her little speckled fawn by her side.
    I must have made some sort of noise as I watched them, because the doe suddenly looked up from her drink. Her big brown eyes filled with terror as they met mine and she bleated a warning to her baby before leaping away from the stream.
    I wanted nothing more than to chase them down and shred them to pieces. I closed my eyes as I fought against the